I had been seriously debating as to whether I would be keeping this site, and at the moment, I am temporarily “in processing” so it may be a little bit before I do any new posts.
So please during my downtime, please consider checking out some of the older posts. God’s word is eternal and always timely.
Thank you so much for visiting! I truly appreciate it.
Love and Peace and hope to return soon! Sister Nina
“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Trying to determine true statics on kids and Christianity is like the proverbial needle in the haystack.
But it is very fair to say considering the verse above that it doesn’t really matter what school stats would suggest because this is parental responsibility.
According to the history on it, “Sunday school” was started in Britain as a way of not only helping the street children, but also teaching them about God and educating them.
And in our country schools used mainly the word of God as a teaching tools for reading and writing.
Many of our early leaders WERE self-taught, the Bible being the number one book used for that purpose.
So it is not a shocker that schools of yesteryear were safe learning place that parents could entrust their children to, of course you have to take the corporal punishment out of that equation, I for one absolutely do not agree with hitting or spanking, or any form of physical violence as a method of discipline or learning “incentive”.
But they were something else in the old days as far as the term “strong disciplinarians” could go.
My mother has horror stories of the days when children were paddled for not knowing their multiplication table. And as she said, if you miss one you were sure to miss another. It is just absolutely wrong for anyone other than a parent to have that kind of authority over a child.
But we have as a society given entirely too much power to influence the minds and more importantly the SOULS of our children to the “world” schools, and even religious organizations.
As we know when prayer and the teachings of God were removed form public schools replaced with Darwinism and the absolute intelligence insulting nonsense of the big bang and evolution, we invited the moral downfall of society as we knew it.
And at the end of the day it is up to each one of us to take back that power, that back that authority that we have blindly given others BECAUSE God only gave that authority to parents.
I have heard people remark after being called out about saying or doing things that are not right in front of their children, only to reply that “They hear worse at school” and everyone could argue the filth that they see on television and movies and even argue that at some point they “will be exposed to it anyway” but here is the deal, EVEN if they hear bad language at school, they should NOT hear it at home. EVEN if they have saw filth on television, you have to ask, WHO is monitoring that television? WHO is watching over what they are watching, witnessing, and being exposed to?
Remember PG for PARENTAL GUIDANCE? That is NOT just for television. God expects us to use our PG authority in all areas of our children’s lives and even if children are grown adults, they are STILL your children.
No matter what mistakes have been made in the past, the present and future can be changed for the better by enacting that parental guidance in our own lives, by being the example that God intended for us to be.
And as long as we have breath in these bodies, IT IS NEVER TOO LATE! That is why God told US to teach our own children, of course we can not protect the from the world and the things in the world but at the end of the day, what are taught by parents and family will outweigh those other influences.
And of course people can fall in with the “wrong crowd” and go completely “hog wild” as the saying goes, kinda reminiscent of the Prodigal son there, but have hope in this.
Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he WILL NOT depart from it.”
Most of us have been guilty of running amok in our youth, (some of us seriously amok) but there is so much comfort in knowing that God ALWAYS has His eyes on us AND our children.
That is why it is so important for those who are new to Christ to STAY in Christ because we are PROMISED our households and our families to a thousand generations, we are NOT saved just for the sake of being saved.
As part of that salvation, we are to lead others to Him, that His light may also shine into their lives also and that light radiates and it touches so many others, which is why when one family member accepts Christ usually the others soon follow.
It ONLY takes one person to STAND up and declare faith in Jesus to influence many generations.
Think about it as we start a New Year, if you have a school aged child KNOW who is teaching them and what they are being taught and do not be afraid to speak AGAINST those things that are against God because you are actually the one with the GREATER influence.
And if you doubt that, think of it in the negative, think about all the people who belong to hate groups BECAUSE they were BORN into hate groups and we ARE products of our environment and once that environment changes WE CAN CHANGE ALSO.
This kinda goes with my “when in Rome” thought, it has been on my heart and mind so much that THIS has to change. Take back your place in the family and take back your heritage in the Lord.
Psalm 127:3,4: ” Lo, (OT for pay attention) Children ARE an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of thy womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.”
We ARE blessed with children. We ARE entrusted of God with those children and they are HIS and we are privileged with the task of nurturing their hearts, their souls, and their minds and guide them on their journey into adulthood but even more so in discovering WHO HE CREATED THEM TO BE.
And the greatest reflection that will show in them is WHO we understand HE created US to be.
So as you make your resolutions for this New Year, think about what you want for your family, if you don’t have kids, think about maybe another family member. We all struggle, we all need help at different times in life, and we can all be a light, and especially as parents, be that parental guide for your child, no matter how young or old they are because you lead and they will follow, maybe not in a split second, but stay on the Lord’s path and they will… just as scripture tells us, NOT depart from that way.
So be that example this year, even when you don’t feel like being an example.. BE ONE.
Εξυπνιζω NBJ 2018
1 Thessalonians 5:12: “And we beseech you, (urgently, fervently, implore) brethren , to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish (instruct) you;
Now of course if you are going to study the Bible, it is imperative that you read ALL verses before, after, and cross-reference to get the full meanings.
And another secret to it all it that often part of a thought or an account of something will be in one book and the “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would have said, it to be found somewhere else.
Some can even go between the Old Testament and the New Testament, which is a killer for those who want to argue that the Old Testament is archaic and we do not have to live by any of it now… not quite true.
The other reason I believe that God had it arranged this way it to actually fulfill part of what He said as recorded in Matthew 13:13: “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”
He went on to expound on what had been written by the Prophet Isaiah as to the reasoning behind this. And this arrangement becomes quite a formidable foe to those who attempt to twist the word of God and use HIS own scripture to seemingly contradict itself.
Years ago I was watching a “History” show on Sodom and Gomorrah ( I KNOW better but sometimes I just do it to see how far out they can go) and the thing with this particular take was that they were NOT disputing the destruction of Sodom, they WERE disputing the REASON it was destroyed.
So the “expert” reads the Old Testament account and concludes that the Bible NEVER states that the destruction was due to sexual immorality.
BUT actually the Bible DOES state it only it is found in the NEW Testament and in the Book of Jude. And unfortunately the untold MILLIONS of people who watched this show and took the “expert” opinion on the subject viewed this as the Gospel and were now given even MORE free range to sin at will with no expected Divine repercussions for that sin.
And THAT is the ONLY reason so much as been done on the subject over the last twenty years. it is NOT to promote the kingdom it is to attempt to pacify those who believe and know that God does truly exist but still want to hang onto sinful lifestyles, and these “experts” have done a marvelous job of it!
Which why there are so many false, pagan churches today who claim the name of Jesus Christ but would not know Him if He “walked into the room” actually as soon as He started to teach repentance, hell, and judgment, just as He DID while He walked earth, He would be escorted to the door, accused of sedition and running off the congregation… HEY, doesn’t THAT sound rather familiar?
And the leaders would quickly apologize to those who had been OFFENDED by those hurtful words regarding the REQUIRED standards of KINGDOM living.
Something else sounds quite familiar also… when Jesus spoke into confirmation more words prophesied of old and as with THAT generation, they ring ever so true AGAIN in ours…
Matthew 15:7-9: “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophecy of you, saying, THIS PEOPLE DRAWETH NIGH UNTO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOURETH ME WITH THEIR LIPS; BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN THEY DO WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.”
Now THAT is an expert opinion on the subject!!!
Notice HE did say that they WORSHIPPED Him but because it was not worship of the heart and it was NOT of His teaching BUT of man’s own thoughts TAUGHT as doctrine, that worship WAS and STILL IS in vain.
Making it absolutely WORTHLESS.
So now that we have that covered. KNOWING those who labor among you, KNOWING their LIVES, how they live AT home, HOW they treat their families and friends. That is a kind of knowing that we need NOW more than ever.
I truly believe that there is a shift that God wants for the “church” we NEED to turn back to Him in the type of service and worship that He intended.
Seek those “old paths” as the Bible instructs of us. I still fail to completely understand why there was ever a need felt to “fix” something that was NEVER broken.
I am talking about “youth groups” and before you get all mad at me and stop reading… Just WAIT and HEAR me out!
I am NOT talking about kids services provided by ONE church with ONE pastor who is over the ENTIRE FLOCK and KNOWS what they are being taught and more so WHO is teaching them. I am talking about the “youth” craze and culture of huge conferences of music and “worship” by travelling “youth leaders” and organizations that kids and teens are being herded off to.
I had a conversation with a person who had a horrible experience at a youth conference, most chilling thing was what they said about it, that “parents NEED to go with their kids and see what is going on and what is being taught.”
With parents and I personally believe half the time church leaders THEMSELVES knowing NOTHING about these people other than rave reviews and mass numbers of attendance Satan has really ran a gambit with that one too, so much has become about the NUMBERS not the souls.
Anyone remember David getting into some serious trouble with God for NUMBERING Israel?
It is NOT the quantity it is the QUALITY. We ARE to be rearing up a generation for the Lord, to take over ministry reins and why do we want to trust those babies to people and DOCTRINES that may NOT even be the same truths that we as a family hold?
And I will admit it can be quite groovy when a parent who does NOT attend church sends their kid’s to summer Bible school, but tell you a little secret.. that child is LEARNING the most important lessons of life from YOU.
You want them saved the best thing you can do is accept Christ yourself. Parents who also treat church as a secondary life choice, you know go when it is convenient or there isn’t something else planned are also setting their children up to have this same attitude, when the Lord said that He would “spew” us out of His mouth for being lukewarm.
And people who “discipline” children during church, I will admit that I have left services because of this, the me in me wants to shake the parents and tell them to try hitting someone who hits back.
Sorry, it is the truth.. if all a kid knows the house of God to be is a place where you must sit and be a soldier or else get spanked WHY on earth would they want to go there when they grow up and NEED to feel safe and loved during tough seasons of life?
No. all they will associate it with is discipline and as Paul said “When I was a CHILD, I THOUGHT AS A CHILD” and Jesus LOVES those babies!
As parents we have ALL made mistakes, I have made A LOT and I am sure most everyone has too but these are things we can CHANGE!
We know that we are in the “great falling away” we also know that we are PROMISED the last day outpouring, so we also KNOW that these two have to meet in the middle.
As the old song says… “Give me that OLD TIME religion.. it WAS good enough for Momma, it is good enough for me…”
Get back to basics, worship TOGETHER as a FAMILY as God intended.
And if you have been blessed to be called as an overseer of a flock remember a little something GOD CALLED YOU OVER THAT FLOCK, HE DID NOT TELL YOU TO HIRE IT OUT.
TAKE YOUR FAMILY BACK!
Εξυπνιζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2018 *REVISTED 08/07/2022* We are now more aware than ever of the demonic influence that has also taken over public systems, as the Bible teaches us, please be vigilant concerning what your children are being taught be it in school, a “church”, a social group and make certain that those are the values you wish for your child because once the damage has been done, we as parents can never go back and protect our children from those whom we would have never believed that they needed protective from. Φλογιζω NBJ 2022/ Rev. N. Brown Johnson
Part one / Parental Guidance Highly Suggested
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
It has been truly awesome to watch the steady uprising of women who are tired of being chased around the proverbial desks. Those who have grown weary of the sexual harassment and unwelcome comments that have plagued women since the dawn of our time outside the garden.
I love how all have drawn courage from the others and rising one by one, proclaiming that they are simply not taking it any more. It has produced a beautiful domino effect, as we watch powerful male after powerful male fall one on top the other. And that is TRUE feminism.
But we still have battles to fight, and roads to pave, because although we are TO BE considered “equal” on the surface while LIVING daily lives in a sub-culture of the under current of being “fair game” in the workplace and honestly, many other places, we know we still have along way to go.
We had only skimmed the surface and NOW we are dragging the net and hauling all the predators out of our waters.
As a little girl I grew up during the feminist movement and I do realize that was a privilege because societal chains were being broken as many celebrities began using their star power to influence those just like me, the younger generation with their messages of equality sans ownership.
And as an American, I KNOW how blessed we are.
I know that in many countries our sisters live under the rule of men and even younger male relatives that they must “ask permission” of before making any decisions. The have NO rights, NO rights for freedom, NO rights for themselves, and no legal recourse whatsoever, and feel that they have NO way out, and often they don’t.
So we are blessed, we have the right to make our voices be heard. We have the rights to truly pursue those things that our constitution PROMISED us.
We have the right to seek legal remedy (though that has often been a bad one-sided joke, favoring the male) but fortunately that also is changing.. for the better. And we are blessed among nations in having those rights, that have been won through hard-fought battles.
Now time has come and the most basic of battles is being fought. But you know, as far as we have come, we are never going to get to where we need to go until we realize WHO we are.
I really think what happened along the way is that as we fought for those rights and became a prominent force outside of the home and as more women chose not to marry and the enemy spoon fed us the line of sexual freedom, it left us as vulnerable prey to the wolves of the world because the were NO clear-cut rules.
Only now they can use the “misunderstanding” plea. The is no way to EVER misunderstand someone’s unwanted, unwelcome attention. There is NO way to misunderstand lewd comments and gestures.
But for years, decades, eons, women had felt forced to tolerate this behavior as “part of life”, part of being in a “man’s world”. God never intended this as part of life, nor did He ever intend this to be a man’s world.
We ARE all created equal, at birth we ARE equal, and in God, as scripture states, “….There IS NEITHER male nor female; for ye are ALL one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
We have allowed OURSELVES to be silenced, no one did that to us, we feel for that trick and now, finally awakening has come but we also need to awake to the truth. The truth of Jesus Christ.
The truth that all the beautiful reasoning’s of the heart and soul of the woman IS there because we were created by a beautiful Holy God who chose to place those things inside of in identifying us, as just that, womankind.
Different, because we are CREATED to be different and to ever buy into the lie that we are to just “grin and bear it” and accept behavior that hurt us, degrade us, and humiliate us as just “part of life” has been a greater tragedy that any prejudice shown us.
And while accepting this pack of lies that in order to play on an equal field we have to allow ourselves to be covered and in filth and mud from the other players, we have also bought into the biggest of those lies against us, that God is a woman-hater who is responsible for arranging the players on that field.
We have been guilty of selling ourselves for “nought”, which means nothing. We have accepted this offer for our “rights” that still keep us bound in chains of substandard humanism.
When Christ died to make us FREE, He came that we might not only have life but have it more abundantly and our freedom WAS purchased by Him in His blood.
Not given to us by any man or demanded through the court ordered through passage of laws. But given through Him and His death on the cross. He said, that we WILL know THAT truth and THAT truth WILL make us free.
NOW is the time, the time, as all this comes to light, as this “discussion” (I fail to see what there is to discuss, when “keep your hands off and your nasty thoughts to yourself ” should be evident and go without saying in ANY workplace) but as the discussion is finally taking place, it is prime time to also win women back to Christ through the TRUE Gospel.
Which is love, mercy, kindness, and best of all ABSOLUTE equality, protection and justice for us, and for all who have been oppressed. Embrace it! Whatever you ministry is, or if you have just felt led and not actually started a ministry yet. Pray about it and do it!
Take every opportunity given during this time of awaking, as women awake to the realization that we do not have to suffer this and we can change the world for our daughters and our daughters daughters, if time stands.
Through the example of only one person standing against any injustice, others are encouraged and inspired, and strengthened to also make that stand.
Wherever He has placed you today, use that place to stand and show others the truth and wisdom, and power in the word of God and encourage them to STOP selling themselves for nothing and to NEVER sell out their identity in God.
Εξυπνιζω NBJ 2017
“The wilderness and the solitary (desert, lonely, desolate) place shall be glad for them, and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert SHALL rejoice and BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE.” Isaiah 35:1
Finding Paris, strange I know but trust me this is not going to be a world travel post but hopefully a travel to the inner space of ourselves and all those emotions and hopes, and dreams that old man time tends to run roughshod over and with the passage of time we forget that we even had those dreams.
The notion of “romantic” Paris is probably as old as dirt but the mention of the name usually brings to mind, roses, beauty, the Eiffel tower, whose reach toward the sky can be quite a reflection of reaching higher and the sheer romance of all it all will stir the feminine heart in a way unlike any other place on earth.
When as little girls do we first have those feelings that we are DIFFERENT, is in when we sneak into the perfumes, jewelry, and all the “womanly” treasures often found on the dressers of our mothers?
And for me there was nothing quite like the beautiful stationery that my big sister used when writing mushy love letters to her boyfriend who was in the army.
I’d watch her put the gold seal on the envelope and could not wait until I was big enough to have fancy gold seals and write mushy love letters!
And there was nothing quite like sitting playing with my doll watching her and Mom try new lipsticks and hairdo’s together because I SO was going to wear make up and do my hair just like them one day.
And I know you have your memories of when all things feminine, and beautiful stirred in you.
No matter what kind of a childhood you have had, even if it was not influenced by your own mother, there was still a lady, a grandmother, someone that you looked up as a what being female was all about.
There is always still some thread in time that influenced you and stirred thoughts in your heart and your soul that led to the journey of “finding Paris”, that beautiful place of womanhood that we are all eventually led to.
With me I really had to hold on, after my sister married and my mom started worked the majority of my time was spent with my brothers and that could be a whole other post series!
Hard to stay focused on future femininity with daily wrestling, name calling, and “gas” contests going on constantly between them, but thank goodness for afternoon television visits with Ginger Grant 😉
So WHAT were your hopes, dreams, and destination as you planned as a child? Bear them in mind.
Usually, we do find “Paris”, when we are around fifteen or sixteen, we blossom, discover our own style, we grow inside and become more self-aware, and often more assertive in being allowed who we want to be.
There is a freedom in knowing who we are as women but life changes so fast, especially when we are young.
As as the clock starts to tick the newness wearing off, things never quite measuring up to what our expectations had been, and real life sets in.
Soon the moon over the tower loses luster and doesn’t shine quite so brightly and the captivating scents of jasmine and lilac fade, and petals start to fall from those beautiful roses.
Life does that, bad relationships do that, like countless women who married young, married FOREVER, expecting the road ahead to be filled with happiness, family and Prince Charming only to find that Prince Charming was in reality, the Prince of Persia, (a Biblical reference to Lucifer) that lied, cheated, and battered them and always managed to convince them that they were to blame.
And choosing to leave, others have been faced with being single mothers, taking on the role of both parents, doing the back breaking work of often working two jobs to provide and the double duty task of feeding, clothing, laundry, housework, not one moment for themselves or to worry about what they may need or even want because their children come first.
Others, for a multitude of reasonings, become entangled in bad lifestyle choices and professions that leave you in place alright, but it certainly isn’t paris.
And those who have had good lives but have suffered loss of family, friends, and worse of their children, have actually lost parts of themselves and have a hard time trying to move forward because their hearts long for the happy days of the past, the days when the still had those who have gone on.
The dreams of long ago have but vanished and just making it through the day, week, or month becomes the focus.
No joy, no hope, and no more believing for a “magical” age or time when things will change because as we become jaded, we lose hope, we lose faith, and we lose the ability to see past circumstances to see that “paris” is still really there, it still exists, we just have to find our way back to it and we have to find a way to rekindle the desire to even want to go there.
Last time we talked about aging and the fact that TIME is NOTHING to God, AGE is nothing to God.
He has ALL power in heaven and earth, and time bends to his will.
The scripture above so perfectly reflects what goes on in so many of us, the wilderness, the places we find ourselves in but can’t find our way out.
The lonely deserts, lonely, barren times in life when it seems that nothing you have planted will ever grow and all your best efforts are met with scorching thirst.
But it is in journeying to this place that you will find refreshment, you will find joy, and your hard, dry places will blossom with a beauty you have never known, God created us to have all those wonderful feelings and He wants you to feel loved, beautiful, and precious, and priceless in Him and only He can renew, restore, and rejuvenate all the areas inside and out in each of us that need refreshed.
That really is what it all about, you are still you, you are still the same person you were when He created you, NOTHING can ever change your core being. If you find yourself in a desert you need to stop and take stock, don’t look at the desert, don’t beat yourself up or question how you ended up there.
Ecclesiastes 7:10: “Say NOT thou, What IS THE CAUSE that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.”
Which means that we are not to question that the past was better than our present and in doing so we are not asking the right question.
REMEMBER where you were going, what you wanted to accomplish, REVIVE your hopes, REMEMBER your dreams and ask God to show you what He wants you to see in that place.
It’s like the alabaster breaking, which will we soon get to, we have to want change, we have to be to the point that it is all or nothing and in that place your rose will again bloom and it will bloom abundantly and you will be made completely new.
Jesus NEVER touched or touches a life without that life being made COMPLETELY new, new thoughts, new joy, new peace, and a renewed hope that THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING and your life is a book not yet written.
Of course, He knows the plans, but for us it is ALL BLANK PAGES AND A CLEAN SLATE and with that you can dream again, you can hope again, and you can feel beautiful, feminine, and BE exactly WHO HE CREATED YOU TO BE!
Don’t be so sure life is “over” when it has even yet begun!
So go, go find Paris! If you thought the first time was good, the second time is going to blow your mind!
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
Have A Blessed Week! Εξυπιζω NBJ 2017
“Now when every maids turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, ( for so were the days of their purification accomplished), to wit, six months with the oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women.” Esther 2:12
This is the scariest post I’ll ever write.. for me anyway! The first ANYTHING is always the scariest, just like the first impressions we all sometimes worry about making.
And I think we all, especially as women have those secret places in our hearts and souls that we may not always want to share.
Not because we are unwilling or prideful but because they are so personal, so private and your personal worship of the Lord IS private, it IS personal and pouring your heart out and pouring your soul out, seriously pouring out every single thing in you at His feet is something not many would want an audience for.
And for me, I know “Simon’s”, I have even written about “Simon’s” and I really don’t like their condescending stares any more than any of you do, and I am sure many of you have a few “Simon’s”, male or female, all your own to contend with.
But as Isaiah 53:12 says of Jesus: “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; BECAUSE HE HATH POURED OUT HIS SOUL UNTO DEATH;…”
And if I can’t pour out my love, my worship, my heart for Him,and to Him and about Him, then honestly I have no business asking Him for anything especially asking to be in His Presence.
Neither would anyone else who is unwilling to wear that love and that praise for all the world to see, no matter who it is in the world that is seeing.
And we will get into all that when the timing is right and that is where the “myrrh” will come in very handy.
But here we are and I KNOW there is so much more for the daughters, the sisters, the literal “maidens” of Christ.
And I KNOW as I have read the Book of Ruth, and was studying over a little something last night, that as Ruth was allowed to sit at the TABLE with the REAPERS and have a meal, that the “left over” grain that FELL to the ground as the reapers came by became her lot to collect, that WE also have much to be gathered that has fallen and just been left laying on the ground.
To background the next verses, a lady named Naomi and her husband, who was of Bethlehem Judah and their two sons moved to Moab because of famine and her husband died. The sons married two women from there, but Moab was pagan, and eventually the two sons died and Naomi was left with her and her daughters-in-law, so she decided to return to her own land as the famine had since lifted.
She asked her daughters-in-law to go back to their own families and remarry, because at that time, women were solely dependent on husbands, sons, kindness of or others, or so it would have seemed.
After many tears and much lingering, Orpah decided to go her way, but Ruth absolutely refused to leave Naomi.
Now God is awesome, He has ALWAYS been awesome, and always will be awesome. And many of the Old Testament laws he laid down were actually designed to PROTECT women, but over the course of time, so much has been “preached” through many men, who seem to not notice many of the things the Lord actually said and prefer to twist scriptures to enslave us rather than lead us to freedom, but that is another subject, I’d better bet get back to this one.
God had a provision that during harvest grain that fell was left so that the poor or hungry could come by and gather it so that they would also have food.. told you, HE IS AWESOME. So they make it back to Bethlehem, and this verse is really important to their entire purpose of what we have before us, not just this post, but where this should be leading.
Ruth 2: 2: ” And Ruth the Moabitess, said unto Naomi, Let me NOW go to the field, and glean ears of corn after HIM IN WHOSE SIGHT I SHALL FIND GRACE.And she said unto her, Go my daughter.”
So she ends up in the field of Boaz, and I don’t want to get all hung up here, we’ll be in and out of their business enough as our journey goes, but for this we just need a little more background, basically they meet, they talk, and we will pick it up at verse fourteen:
“And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither (you come here) and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And SHE SAT BESIDE THE REAPERS: And he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.”
We know we are also in harvest season and just as Jesus told us “the harvest truly is great but the laborers are few” we also know that traditionally what has been reaped by the men of God working the fields of the world, but I truly believe the greatest amount of that “wheat” of the kingdom is still lying on the ground in the fields of this world, lying in drug addictions, poverty, abuse, and chains they can not break themselves out of without divine intervention from God.
And I truly believe that much of this harvest belongs to His daughters, that have been invited to sit at His table and been fed from His table with things that He personally has given them and then they will set by the reapers and glean the fields.
But just like Esther, you can not just sit yourself down at the table of a King, there is preparation. Of course this is not about salvation, we do not prepare ourselves to be saved, we only ask, God saves us.
This is about those who are already saved preparing to take their place in the Bride that we were told to be prepared to be.
So now you can see a little where this entire blog will be headed, embracing who we are, learning the Bible truth about who HE says we are, NOT what has been and still often is drilled into our heads, but HIS WORD to us, and preparing to sit at that table with our King and glean those fields with the absolute resurgence of the character and virtue of our Sisters Esther and Ruth, because that is what it is going to take to get our job done.
Φλογιζω Σαλπιζω Εξυπιζω NBJ 2017
“And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat (at the dinner table), there came a woman having an alabaster box (flask) of ointment of spikenard,very precious (costly); and she brake the box and poured it on his head.” Mark 14:3
Before we begin, I do want to take one more opportunity to absolutely STRESS that these teaching CAN NOT be viewed with the carnal mind.
We live in the world and the world associates love, longing, and the desire to have ones soul entwined as something sensual and carnal but dealing with the teaching of Christ and the Church as His Bride and the love and extremely intimate relationship that He desires IS spiritual, IT IS the love of your soul, which is why it can not be viewed or studied without salvation and the understanding that all things have to be compared spiritually.
And there are so many sites dedicated to nothing more than what they consider “apostasy” and they assert that if someone has had an experience different from their own that they are obviously a heretic, and many denominations conclude that the outpouring of the Spirit, and the gifts, and especially tongues and prophecies were only for the time of the disciples, mainly during the writing of the book of Acts.
BUT they are wrong and the Bible even teaches us that there are different manifestations of the Spirit and I for one declare what I KNOW to be true and maybe they just need to pray to experience these things BEFORE they malign others. SO there is my disclaimer!
EVERYTHING is symbolic and ALL the teachings of the Bible APPLY to us now. God had it written through His Holy Revelation as a guidebook for all the generations that would come after its completion.
NOTHING else is needed and if anyone believes that those teachings are outdated or for certain times then how would He want us to navigate our way now? That is the trouble with that argument.
It DOES apply and the symbolism, once He has taught you to “read” it is where the answers to many of our questions are found. So on that note, let’s get going!
In our verse, she FOUND him, she made a CONSCIOUS effort to seek him, she did not wait for “fate” to allow her a chance meeting. We have to get out of the thinking that what we seek will “just happen” and “if it is meant to be it will” that may be all well and good, but David PROCLAIMED in Psalm 27:8:
“When thou saidst, SEEK YE MY FACE, MY HEART SAID UNTO THEE, THY FACE, LORD, WILL I SEEK.”
Song of Solomon 3:1-4: “By NIGHT on my bed I SOUGHT HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH, I sought him, but I found him not.
I WILL RISE now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I WILL SEEK HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH; I sought him but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
It was but a LITTLE that I passed from them, but I FOUND HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH; I HELD HIM, AND WOULD NOT LET HIM GO….”
We are encouraged through theses verses and MANY more to SEEK, so IF we are already saved, WHY would we be told to SEEK?
Because there IS more, for David was to be promoted from shepherd boy to thrice anointed King, whose throne WILL stand forever.
I am sure the disciples would have been saved once they did indeed accept Christ as the Messiah, BUT it was when they heeded His words “FOLLOW ME” that their discipleship was enacted.
And our lady the church, in the above verses from Solomon, had SEARCHED and SEARCHED, and could NOT even sleep because her heart longed and searched for the ONE she knew that her soul must find.
And as those verse point out, finding him was NOT easy, she HAD TO RISE UP and move OUT of her comfort zone.
The “watchmen” evidently thought she was a little far out considering they ‘found” her, leading us to think that they questioned what on earth was she doing. But she told them, asking them Where is he? They were obviously of no help since we are told that shortly after she did find him and would not lose what she had found.
And that is about where Mary of Bethany found herself, she HAD sought and she found him at the dinner table and in her desperation, she did “pass by the watchmen” those that held the dinner that she had not been invited to, she CAME ANYWAY.
And that is sometimes what it takes to get some alabaster breaking, the willingness to not care what anyone else thinks of you or your worship of the Lord, how crazy they think you are or what a fanatic they accuse of being.
The ONLY thing she brought with her was her alabaster flask, alabaster in its purest form is snow white (dig, the symbolism) but it the iron it is exposed to that produces the faded color and “veining” but it remains translucent, and it’s softness it what makes it so delicate and easily carved and with enough water it will dissolve but under the wrong conditions it will become hard as any other rock.
Can you see “US”, our feminine state in the alabaster?
He does create us pure as snow, but enough hardness, hurt, and “iron” of this life will dull that white turning it as burnt amber with all the fine lines and cracks from those things that have almost broken us, forming the veining throughout the piece but it still retains its translucency, still allowing light to pass through, even in its darkened state, and while not a perfect image, what the vessel truly holds can still be somewhat seen through the marred surface.
We ARE the alabaster vessels, and the hardness will soften and vanish completely away once that “vessel” is washed over by “living” waters.
Her flask held spikenard, still heralded as an anointing oil, but the secret to this is the flowers of the plant is comes from, the flowers are pink and bell-shaped, beautiful and fragrant, again super feminine, just like we like to be, we want to feel our best, feel feminine, and as the plant “wears” it’s pretty pink bells, so do we.
BUT what we see on the surface is NOT always a reflection of what lies underneath and this plants has some serious roots.
How about our roots? What lies beneath our surfaces, what is so deep, so horrid, so hidden, that we can not even bring ourselves to dig it up?
But to get this oil, you have to deal with the roots, and it is funny, if the roots are stored they are prone to bacteria and infection, they also have the ability to shoot off and grow more roots, (troubles) and it to get the oil the roots must be CRUSHED. Destroying the root BUT producing something so beautiful in return.
In our story it was EXPENSIVE, worth around a years wages, so in our spirits what is the worth of our OWN alabaster boxes?
What caused the fading, veining, and cracks? What was the price paid for everything contained in that vessel?
Tears, heartaches, betrayals, and mistakes, coercions, and outright attacks. Was that price so high that, like some of us, that the vessel is all you even have left? If you know there are things to be dealt with, roots that cost you your peace, joy, and happiness, cracks in that alabaster that has left you feeling worthless and unloved, or cheated and betrayed, or wounds of loss that seem to have destroyed any hope for your present, much less hope of a future. SEEK HIM.
Jeremiah 29:13 :”And ye SHALL seek me, and FIND me, when YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.”
Find him, take your vessel and BREAK IT, scripture says: Isaiah 53:5…..”the CHASTISEMENT of OUR PEACE was UPON HIM;…”
He GIVES us HIS peace when we are willing to break and allow everything in us to be poured out and if you are have trouble with things that just won’t seem to go away and fighting the same emotional battles over and over again, give it to Him because He wants to make you new but you have to let Him, and take the vessel of your heart, your soul, to him, your will, your fears, take it ALL, it has to break, and those roots must be crushed, there is no other way.
True freedom is given at the feet of Jesus, your enemies can not touch you, your past can not haunt you, and those roots, once crushed will never sprout up again!
Εξυπιζω NBJ 2017
“In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judaea. And saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias( Isaiah), saying, THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.
And the same John had his raiment (clothing) of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle (belt) about his loins (around his waist); and his meat (food) was locusts and wild honey.
Then went out to him, Jerusalem, and all of Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to (for) his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, WHO hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits meet (worthy of) repentance.
And THINK NOT to yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT GOD IS ABLE OF THESE STONES TO RAISE UP CHILDREN UNTO ABRAHAM.
And NOW the ax IS laid unto the root of the trees, THEREFORE EVERY TREE WHICH BRINGETH FORTH NOT GOOD FRUIT IS HEWN DOWN, AND CAST INTO THE FIRE.” Matthew 3:1-10
You know John was an expert on the wilderness and I can only imagine WHAT would have been said about John IF God had saved his ministry until our present day. Can you only imagine the late night monologues, and the endless stream of John jokes and memes on social stream?
There would be a virtual field day ridiculing EVERY thing about him. His clothes, his food, his wilderness way.
But most of those of John’s day had a couple of qualities that this world severely lacks, FEAR OF THE LORD and good old-fashioned TACT.
There isn’t much difference in those addressed between the two spans of time… VIPERS… all that can be said.. POISONOUS BITING BEASTS who lay wait to attack WHATEVER moves or comes their way.
And just as John warned those vipers of his day, I think those present vipers may do well to take heed.
Clearly as John made mention that they should not THINK to themselves that they have some special “escape clause” that allowed them to do whatever they wished or behave anyway they wanted, and made them exempt from the wrath of God BECAUSE they were Abraham’s descendants.
It seems that even believers can get a little to chummy with the world and FORGET that GOD does NOT need us for His kingdom, WE ARE ACTUALLY THE ONES IN NEED.
So maybe you are wondering what on earth am I talking about?
I am talking about all this insane laughter over people EATING tide pods and the Tide pods are ONLY a drop in the bucket!
People will MAKE FUN of anything and make bad tasteless jokes about ANYTHING! Whether or not grown people are doing this, still does not change the fact that INNOCENT children have been harmed by accidentally ingesting these and there IS nothing funny about that and if anyone thinks it is remotely humorous than they are demonically possessed because only true evil could find this funny.
And when “church goers” get on board with it and call people “stupid’ and “ignorant” that will make them accountable for THEIR words because Jesus told us this concerning calling people these “names”
Matthew 5:22:
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca (empty head) shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Think that clarifies His opinion on it.
God help us, it is no shock that the word is in the state it is in, it is not a shock that it is not going to get any better, actually it will get a lot worse BEFORE it gets better.
And as long as we keep “liking” “sharing” and giving a “thumb up” to this junk we ARE running our OWN risk of running the risks Jesus warned us of.
So think really carefully before you post, share, or repeat. Think carefully before you make a joke about anything or anyone because if it is something that hurts others or is an act that has caused another hurt, whether you are joking or not, you are still promoting that.
And believe it or don’t but we will be responsible for BEARING fruit and if we spent a little more time on cultivating the gardens of the Kingdom we’d have a lot less time to spend helping spread the trash of this world.
Σαλπιζω NB 2018
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the Morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst WEAKEN THE NATIONS!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN, I WILL EXALT MY THRONE ABOVE THE STARS OF GOD:
I WILL ALSO SIT UPON THE MOUNT OF THE CONGREGATION in the sides of the north:
I WILL ASCEND ABOVE THE HEIGHTS OF THE CLOUDS; I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.” Isaiah 14:12-14
You know, it is such a hoot when the UN keeps accusing Israel of being the worst human rights violator in the known universe. I was having my morning coffee, listening to international news on the radio and one story was about a survivor of last years Rohingya atrocities.
Which had included beatings, gang rapes, village burning, and of course mass executions with people thrown in graves with acid to literally “burn the faces off the bodies” all of this PROVEN by a sim card from a survivors cell phone that he had smuggled wrapped in plastic and taped to his leg, when he fled from the horror.
If you need a glimpse of the true extent of these crimes and their true prevalence in the world, just check out some RELIABLE sources on the subject, Reuters has a site dedicated only to human rights violations and awareness.
So pardon me, while viewing the world as largely polluted and corrupted, perverse, and repulsive due to the proverbial stench of human trafficking, slave labor, oppressed women and enslaved children, chained and neglected, and never forget “laboratory” animals,and as I have said a million times, the list goes ON and ON…. so again, pardon me, if I find the accusations against Israel by the UN, in the NEXT news story I heard, just a trifle BIASED, to say the very least.
Actually my first thought was to roll around on the floor and laugh hysterically at the mere fact that two stories back to back, one of brutality beyond brutality and another of a country refusing settlements on their OWN GOD-GIVEN land and yet they were DEEMED the greater of the evil.
Kinda like… “Hello, Pots, are you seriously calling those kettles black?”
Also VERY reminiscent of the conversation between the Lord and Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:13 ” And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething (boiling) pot; and the face of it is toward the north.”
And we certainly have one set on the stove right now. And man, it is just about to boil completely over.
So back to WHY, and I really want to take this opportunity to ask a question to anyone who made be reading this with skepticism and debate as to the REALITY of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
If you question any of this, I want to challenge you, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and ASK yourself a couple of questions.
Number one being WHY, WHY would the majority of the world’s countries be so vehemently AGAINST the TINY nation of Israel?
WHY would one people be so hated, so persecuted THROUGHOUT HISTORY?
WHY the accusations that THE well documented facts of the Holocaust NEVER EVEN TOOK PLACE?
WHY have leaders been even KNOWN to echo the VERY words of the Bible, with the statement that they wanted Israel WIPED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH?
WHY? WHY has there ALWAYS been such turmoil and hatred aimed at one TINY little country?
Well, our answer is found in the above verses. Satan’s LAST attempt at an IMPOSSIBLE overthrow.
Revelation 12:7: ” And there was war IN heaven: Michael and his angels FOUGHT AGAINST the dragon (one of Lucifer’s many names), and the dragon fought and his angels, And PREVAILED NOT; NEITHER WAS THEIR PLACE (dwelling) found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon WAS CAST OUT, that old serpent, CALLED the Devil, and Satan, WHICH DECEIVED THE WHOLE WORLD: HE WAS CAST OUT INTO THE EARTH, and HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM.”
The reference to HIS angels, his demons that are STILL very active, are the third of the angels of heaven who chose to rebel against God, thus becoming demons on earth.
The Bible gives us many pictures of his attempted overthrow, he was very beautiful and was a protecting angel, one of the three arch angels, he was also the angelic worship leader, which his instruments actually CREATED inside his body.
But this great beauty brought him a great fall, he became filled with pride and self-will and no longer wished to serve and honor the very God who CREATED him, but in his arrogant pride felt that he should be worshiped above his own master.
As his MANY names listed above, he is The prince of the kingdoms of Persia, The Pharaoh, The Assyrian, The great cedar,(Daniel 10:3) (Ezekiel 28:12-19) (Ezekiel 31:3-18) and of course, Isaiah chapter 14, The bright star (angelic being) whom Jesus beheld him as lightning from their presence in heaven, as he was cast to earth (Luke 10:18) during that great war.
And as he is referenced so many ways in the Bible, you can see also the mirroring of his image in so many in THIS world, just as Jesus so often told those of his day, that they could not “hear” him because they WERE of THEIR father, the devil.
So as he was thrown from heaven he sought to control this earth and as Jesus referred to him as the “prince of THIS world” when the time came for his arrest, death, and sacrifice to establish absolute power over the devil, death, and hell.
Paul referred to him as the “god of THIS world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) as he spoke to those in the world who are spiritually blind and reject God’s truth because they have believed the lies of the devil.
And I do want to stress that he is NOT a prince nor is he a “god” but those who refuse and reject the truth are actually accepting him as such.
People often want to argue the point of his power BUT the truth is he is still a very powerful being, he WILL NEVER have the power of God!
But a human should never mistake him for an adversary that they can defeat, through their own strength (such as so-called “ghost busters” and paranormal researchers, and any wannabe exorcism specialists, such as those told of in Acts 19:13-16) ONLY THE TRUE God, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, The I AM THAT I AM, Jehovah God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, have that power!
And we ONLY have power over the enemy and the works of darkness BECAUSE God dwells in us and HIS power works within us and our lives.
And if you see that differently, you can complain to me in person and I will give you scripture to prove this.
But the BIBLE warns us to “BE ON GUARD”, “BE DILIGENT” “BE SOBER” because OUR adversary walks about SEEKING whom he may devour” that is telling us to watch out for him and his snares.
And to argue otherwise is like saying to someone, “Hey, be careful when you leave your house because a wanted serial killer was spotted.” WITHOUT giving them a DESCRIPTION of that person and TELLING them the area that they should avoid.
It would be useless information to them.
Same deal.
So I said all that to get to this… He TRIED to overthrow the throne IN heaven.
He TRIED to make all the angels worship him.
He then TRIED to establish his kingdom on earth but Jesus overruled that plan with His resurrection.
The last place that he has in his ATTEMPT at his IMPOSSIBLE overthrow IS Jerusalem. Because God has CHOSEN Jerusalem as His special place (read part one to help understand this O Jerusalem….. “ROUND ABOUT” and NEW JERUSALEM will be the crowning jewel of FUTURE earthly reign of Jesus Christ. I hope to get into that, Lord’s will, when part 3 comes around.
But until then LOOK at this for what it is… as God said in the scriptures above, the enemy has “weakened the NATIONS” the latest accusations against Israel (they are but a drop in the bucket) are all leading the nations to that great and faithful day.
And we need to be aware of what is “cooking on the stove” and be especially AWARE of who is truly stirring that pot.
Φλογιζω Σαλπιζω ΝΒ 2018
Φλογιζω SOUL FOCUS 